Thailand is getting older, experiencing rapid changes in its demographic composition. It is now the second most aged country in Southeast Asia, after Singapore, with the older population now reaching 12%. The growing number of healthy older and their demand for quality aged care has resulted in a growing international interest over studying quality of life and how individuals perceive their own aging. While this has not been closely studied Asian countries, some research suggests that having positive attitudes towards one’s own aging can result in better physical and mental health of an individual. This study tries to investigate the relationship between attitudes of Thai elders towards their own aging with their physical and mental health. The study uses the secondary data of “Project on Population, social, cultural, and Long term Care Surveillance for Thai Elderly People’s Health Promotion” conducted in Kanchanaburi province, Thailand, in 2011. The samples for this study included 4424 older adults aged 60 years and over. Binary logistic regression was employed to understand the strength of relationships between different variables. The findings revealed that positive attitudes, more socially connected, and more religious are positively associated with good subjective health. Also, positive attitudes and religiosity are positively associated with good mental health. While female are negatively associated with good subjective and mental health than males. From the result, we can conclude that positive attitudes toward aging can help Thailand age healthily. Thus successful implementations of programs that combat ageism, increase community connectedness, and enhance spirituality should be priority for policy makers working for elderly
Moderator: Dr. Jongjit Rittirong
July 2, 2014
